Today we have a new setter in Lark. I’ve not been paying much attention to the news, anything else happening today?
I guess setters and editors have been busy scrabbling through upcoming puzzles to ensure and references to the late queen are at least tasteful. This seems a plain puzzle, the grid looks ripe for a perimeter message but I can’t see anything or theme today. A fine debut, thank you Lark.
RE- about & A – one & PER – every & S(econd)
Crossword staple ELI for priest & ‘S reversed & N(ew) T(estament)
L(arge) removed from ANG(L)ERS
AULD – scottish for OLD with an endless CRON(e) around, definition as clue.
First letter of L(eader) & LAY – put
O for zero inside a managed [RUSHED AND]*
A(mateur) & DI – sleuth & POSE – attitude
The RAC reversed & alternate letters of eNtAnGlEd
The A from the end of the wordplay & D(aughter) & DRESSING
West & East – partners in a game of bridge & A(ce) & K(ing) – highest value cards
E(nergy) & F(ollowing) & FUSION – type of nuclear reaction
I – (electrical current) & X – times inside RILE – upset all reversed
Double defintion. Fix as in “in a mess”
Sounds like “wotcha”
[IN OLD CAR]* gone nuts
Hidden reversed in acolYTE FAStidiously
Centre of ruRal & SE all in BERKS
BUDGE – some flexiblity, it can move & ON for about with L(iberal) inserted
A renovated [uOUr LAND]*
A bone at the base of the spine- starts of S(ensational) A(ppears) & C for circa – acout & RUM – odd, funny
SQUID with I for one replaced by A(merican)
U(niversity) & G(rant) both inside PORTAL for door
A desolated SMAUG* with ENT inserted, Treebeard was an ENT in Tolkien’s world
Cryptic def
Min(imum) – smallest & NOW – present
DE – “of” in French & EC the City of London – the “banker’s domain” inside the FT – the banker’s newspaper
An eccentric {PRIES(t)]*
WRITE – to author with H(er) inserted
A very enjoyable debut. I particularly liked the deceptive definition for SILENT and the clever CAULDRON. Didn’t spot a theme (although I felt, with a bit of tweaking, a Buffy theme could be obtained, e.g. SPIKE in place of SPIRE). Obviously you meant to write ‘first letter of SHOT’ in 11a.
Arrgh Indeed hovis.
Some delightful stuff here; like Hovis @1, I particularly liked SILENT and CAULDRON; also I thought WRITHE was cleverly done, with “author” being a verb rather than the noun one expects. AUGMENTS is a lovely clue provided you are familiar with the writings of J R R Tolkien, but if you aren’t, you haven’t a hope. Have we reached the point where familiarity with Tolkien is assumed in the same way as knowing that NT and OT are collections of scripture?
CARNAGE reminded me of a criminology lecturer many years ago remarking thoughtfully “Motorists, of course, are the only criminals to have a trade union. In fact they have two – one has a blue badge, the other a yellow one…”
Thanks to Lark and flashling.
Oh, and I think they may have tweaked the Indy site so that it isn’t quite as user-unfriendly as it used to be. If I’m right about that, as opposed to just being less incompetent than usual this morning, thank you to whoever was responsible
I struggled a bit in the NE corner but with a bit of rather too time-consuming detective work got there in the end. NeilH @ 3, for some of us the writings of JRR Tolkien may be more familiar than those of Shakespeare, as at 10A, of which common knowledge seems to be assumed in cruciverbalism. Super puzzle, so congratulations to Lark on his/her debut, and of course to Flashling.
I was delighted to see ENT make an appearance as I now have a published source to which to refer should I do same which I’ve been tempted to do many times. GK is a tricky thing, indeed.
I didn’t find this particularly easy and will confess to some judicious use of the Check Button towards the end. I didn’t parse CAULDRON and the biggest PDM came with GLACIERS. That one was a bung and pray with only the A as crosser. And it was one of those I checked and then stared at for ages trying to make sense of the clue. And then the resounding clang – quite delightful.
All in all a lovely debut puzzle (though, for some odd reason, the setter name rings a faint bell. I have no idea why). Favourites included: REAPERS, ANGERS, ADDRESSING, EFFUSION, WATCHER, IRONCLAD, SAFETY, AUGMENTS, GLACIERS, DEFECT and WRITHE. Quite along list and impossible to nominate a favourite from so many worthy contenders.
Thanks Lark and flashling
Same complimentary remarks as made by others. I mistakenly thought CAULDRON was a cryptic def and made the opposite mistake for GLACIERS, trying to make ‘Flowers’ as the def and the rest of the clue as wordplay.
I’ve learnt that BERSERK(S) can be a noun; according to Chambers it’s an alternative to “berserkers” which I had seen before.
Thanks and welcome to Lark and to flashling
Not bad, and if this is a debut, very promising.
Thanks Lark and flashling
A promising and enjoyable debut.
Given the climate emergency, I’m not sure that 17 isn’t more accurately “Flowers (gradually) disappearing in cold regions”!
Welcome to the club, Lark. Favourites PORTUGAL, AUGMENTS, SILENT and CAULDRON. Cheers to you and flashling.
Thanks Lark (welcome) and flashling.
Not much to add – very enjoyable with SILENT as top fav.
An enjoyable puzzle. We knew of Smaug but not Treebeard or that the latter was an ent – must remember that ent as an alternative to the ‘hospital department’ chestnut.
Thanks, Lark and flashling, and welcome to Lark.
Great debut, thanks Lark. Many good clues including SILENT, WEAK, MINNOW, and SPIRE among them. Loved the surface for AUGMENTS. Thanks flashling for the blog.
Busy watching and weeping yesterday but did solve the puzzle later, found it quite tough for a Monday, and wanted to welcome Lark to the ranks.
Think CAULDRON was my favourite but there were several other worthy contenders.
Thanks to Lark and to flashling for the review.